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Friday, 21 October 2011

You know what I love about this dish? Besides it being absolutely delicious of course, is that it's one of those dishes only a vegan could come up with... Ok, maybe that's a bit bold of a statement, but: miso, tahini, soba, squash, chilli, mirin....I love that we can and do brazingly use such ingredients together. I'll say it again, my food repertoire has skyrocketed since turning vegan and I love it. Back when I was vegetarian this squash probably would have been with spaghetti and a cream sauce. This dish proves that being forced to think outside the box definitely has it's advantages.

The butternut squash is roasted with olive oil, bit of thyme, salt and lots of chilli, the natural sweetness of the squash comes out here to balance the heat. Another counter to the heat is the sauce: sweet white miso with a touch of sweet mirin balances really well with the chilli squash. Oh and it's amazing too, super creamy and sublime! Then the nutty tahini and soba noodles simply add another taste dimension here and brings it all together.

For a fancy looking dish this was so easy to put together and feels like it has more calories than it does. With all the lovely butternut squash in the shops right now it's a perfect autumn dinner. The garnish of black sesame seeds and chives are entirely optional but do make a really nice touch.

A note about the chilli, I initially used 1 tsp as I've written in the recipe here but that was probably my heat limit here. You might want to use 3/4 tsp if you don't like things too hot, although I am a bit of a heat wimp!

Preheat the oven to 220C. To prepare the squash, slice it in half lengthways then scoop out any seeds and fibrous parts. Next slice it into 1 " slices. Peel these slices then chop them into chunks, about the size you in the picture there. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, thyme, salt and chilli flakes. Tip the squash into a roasting tin then pour over the oil. Toss it well until the squash is well coated then pop it in the oven. Roast for about 20 - 30 minutes giving the pan a shake now and again. I also pulled it out and turned each squash about halfway through as shaking wasn't flipping them over. You want them soft and some edges getting nicely charred.

Meanwhile cook the soba noodles according to package instructions. You want them warm here so don't do it too early, they tend to only take about 6-7 minutes to cook.

For the sauce simply add everything but the water to a small saucepan and bring to heat stirring all the while. Add the water, 50 ml first then add more if needed until it is a thick yet pourable sauce. Taste and check seasoning.

When everything is ready simply place the soba noodles onto plates, top with the squash then spoon over the sauce, you probably won't need all of it here so you can leave any extra on the table for family/guests to add more if they like. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped fresh chives and black sesame seeds and serve warm.

Tea&Sympatico - yeah, the full teaspoon was just bordering on too much for me even with the squash and sauce sweetening it up. I just made it again tonight and used 3/4 tsp and we found that perfect, a sort of gentle but noticeable heat, but it'll be about finding the level you like. Hope you get to try it!

I skipped the oil in the baking and broiled for the last ten minutes. This cut down on the fat and still gave it a little char flavor. Also I put the sauce ingredients in the cuisinart instead of cooking them and served it cold at the pool potluck.Great combo of flavors. Yum!